Daily Prelims Notes 15 April 2023

April 15, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

15 April 2023

Table Of Contents

1. New frog species found in Meghalaya Siju cave

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: A team of researchers from Zoological Survey of India found Amolops siju in Siju cave in 2020

More on the News:

The newest croaker recorded in India is a dark cave dweller, unlike most members of the Ranidae family belonging to Amolops, a genus of true frogs.
Scientists from the Shillong and Pune units of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have named the new species Amolops siju after the Siju cave system of Meghalaya, from where four specimens were collected. Two of them, including a gravid female, were found in a dark zone of the cave near a chamber of bats.
This is the second cave-dwelling species of frog recorded from India after Micrixalus spelunca in Tamil Nadu nine years ago.

Amolops siju

It has been named after the Suji cave where it was discovered.
It belongs to the cascade Ranidae family and genus Amolops.
Genus Amolops is among the largest groups of ranid frogs (family Ranidae) with 73 known species widely distributed across India’s North East and north, Nepal, Bhutan, China, the Indochina region and the Malaya Peninsula.
Cascade frogs are named so because they prefer small waterfalls.
The Amolops siju is a relatively small frog, with a length of around 2.5 cm.
It is brown in colour and has a narrow snout. The frog is a semi-aquatic species and is found in the streams that flow inside the Siju Cave.

Suji caves

Siju Cave, also known as Bat Cave, is a cave located in Meghalaya, India.
It is the third longest natural cave in the Indian subcontinent and is famous for its large bat population.
It is a 4 km long natural limestone cave.

Zoological Survey of India

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
It was established in 1916 and is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.
ZSI has regional centers located in various parts of India, including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Port Blair, Dehradun, Jabalpur, Pune, Shillong and Kolkata.
It also has a Marine Biology Regional Centre located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The primary objective of ZSI is to promote the survey, exploration, research and documentation on various aspects of animal taxonomy in the Indian subcontinent.
It also provides expert advice and assistance to the Central and State Governments in matters related to conservation of wildlife and forests.
Some of the key functions of ZSI include:
- Conducting surveys and collecting data on the distribution, abundance and status of various animal species in India.
- Identifying and classifying newly discovered animal species and conducting taxonomic studies.
- Developing and maintaining a National Zoological Collection, which comprises specimens of animal species found in India.
- Undertaking research on animal taxonomy, ecology, biogeography and biodiversity conservation.
- Providing expert advice to the Government on wildlife and biodiversity conservation issues.
- Collaborating with other national and international organizations involved in wildlife and biodiversity conservation.

2. Ambedkar circuit train

Subject: Scheme

Concept :

On April 14,2023, the government of India launched the first Ambedkar circuit tourist train, which will cover prominent places associated with the life of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The ‘Bharat Gaurav Tourist train’ is being operated under the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ initiative, which is aimed at promoting domestic tourism, and is a joint collaboration between the Ministries of Tourism and Railways.
The eight-day tour will include visits to places associated with the life of Dr. Ambedkar such as New Delhi, Mhow, Nagpur and the sacred Buddhist sites of Sanchi, Sarnath, Gaya, Rajgir, and Nalanda.

Bharat Gaurav Scheme

Launched in November 2021, under the scheme, trains now have a third segment for tourism. Till now, the Railways had passenger segments and goods segments.
These trains are not regular trains that will run as per a timetable but will be more on the lines of the Ramayana Express being run by the IRCTC.
It was announced under the theme-based tourist circuit trains. These trains will be run by both private players and IRCTC, in theme-based circuits.
By theme-based tourism (circuits), the railways mean trains like Guru Kripa that go to all places related to Guru Nanak or a Ramayan-themed train to touch upon places related to Lord Ram.
Anyone, from societies, trusts, consortia and even state governments can apply to take these trains and run them on special tourism circuits based on a theme.
Service Provider will offer all-inclusive packages to tourists including rail travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing arrangement, visit to historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc.

Dekho Apna Desh initiative

Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Tourism
The scheme aims to promote tourism and encourage people to explore the rich cultural heritage and diversity of India.
The scheme is intended to offer financial help to tourists travelling to different parts of India.
The government has set aside a substantial budget for the implementation of this scheme, which will be used to promote travel and build out tourist infrastructure around the nation.
The scheme aims to increase domestic tourism in India and under this plan, around 50 destinations in the country will be developed and promoted to attract tourists.

3. Ambedkar Jayanti

Subject : History

Section: Personality

Concept:

Bhirao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was the chairman of Constitution Drafting Committee and a champion of Dalit and minority rights movement in India.
Ambedkar, who was an economist and social reformer, also served as the first Law Minister of Independent India.
Born into a poor Mahar caste in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, he was the first untouchable to have entered Elphinstone Collegewhich was affiliated with University of Bombay.
After obtaining a degree in economics and political science, Ambedkar moved to United States in 1913 to study at Columbia Universityin New York City. He earned doctorates in economics from Columbia University and London School of Economics.
Throughout his political career and public life, Ambedkar worked for upliftment of Dalit (untouchable) community.
In 1920, Ambedkar launched a newspaper called “Mooknayaka”
Other periodicals started by him were – ‘Bahishkrit Bharat’ (1927), ‘Samatha’ (1929) and ‘Janata’ (1930))
In 1923, he set up the ‘Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha.
Ambedkar launched full-fledged movements for Dalit rights in 1927and demanded public drinking water sources open to all and right for all castes to enter temples. This is called as Mahad Satyagraha.
Ambedkar participated in all three round table conferencesin London.
He demanded separate electorate for untouchables which were opposed by Gandhiji leading to Poona pact in 1932.
The Poona Pact was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar on behalf of depressed classes and upper caste Hindu leaders on the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British India in 1932.
It was signed by Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes and by Madan Mohan Malviya on behalf of Hindus and Gandhi as a means to end the fast that Gandhi was undertaking in jail as a protest against the decision made by British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald to give separate electoratesto depressed classesfor the election of members of provincial legislative assemblies in British India. They finally agreed upon 148 electoral seats. Nearly twice as many seats were reserved for Depressed Classes under the Poona Pact than what had been offered by MacDonald’s Separate Electorate.
He published the book Annihilation of Caste in 1936which spoke against caste system and Hindu orthodox religious leaders.
In order to participate in this election Dr. Ambedkar established Independent Labour Partyin August, 1936 which contested election on 17 seats in Bombay Presidency and won 15 seats.
After this on 19^thJuly, 1942 he formed another party known as All India Scheduled Castes Federation (AISCF). This party contested election held in 1946 and 1952 but lost them under the adverse impact of Poona Pact.
As a result of it Dr. Ambedkar himself lost the election in 1952 and 1954
At last Dr. Ambedkar dissolved AISCF on 14^thOctober, 1956 at Nagpur and announced the formation of Republican Party of India (RPI).
He was the chairman of the drafting committee of Indian constitution

4. Jamia masjid in J&k

Subject : History

Section: Art and Culture

Concept :

All Parties Hurriyat Conference of Friday said that disallowing prayers at Srinagar’s grand mosque as well as the continued incarceration of its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq defies the government’s claims that “all is well now” in “Naya Kashmir“.

Jama Masjid

Jamia Masjid is a mosque in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is situated at Nowhatta in the middle of the Old City.
The Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Sikandar in 1394 CE and completed in 1402 CE, at the behest of Mir Mohammad Hamadani, son of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, and is regarded as one of the most important mosques in Kashmir.
The Mosque is located in Downtown which remains a central zone to the religio-political life in Srinagar. Thronged by Muslims every Friday, it is one of the prime tourist attractions of Srinagar.
The Jamia Masjid is heavily influenced by Persian architecture, with similarities to the Buddhist pagodas.

5. Mercy plea decisions and Delays

Subject : Polity

Section: Judiciary

Concept :

While asking states/appropriate authorities to decide on mercy petitions at the earliest, the Supreme Court has mentioned that inordinate delay in not deciding on mercy pleas will “frustrate the object and purpose of the death sentence.”

What is the Case?

The apex court has highlighted that death row convicts were taking advantage of an inordinate delay in deciding mercy petitions.
The efforts shall be made by the state government and/or the concerned authorities to see that the mercy petitions are decided and disposed of at the earliest, so that even the accused can also know his fate and even justice is also done to the victim.
The court while directing the states also relied on the SC ruling on Jagdish vs. State of Madhya Pradesh wherein the court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment after taking into consideration the delay in disposal of the mercy petition of above five years.

Mercy petition

The mercy petition talks about the power to pardon the convict under a few sections of the criminal code of procedure.
Mercy Petition lies in saving an innocent person from being punished due to miscarriage of justice or in cases of doubtful conviction.

Constitutional backing:

Under Article 72 of the Constitution, the President has the power to grant pardons and decide on mercy petitions.
Under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution, the Governor of State also possess the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remission or suspend, remit or commute the sentence of a convict against state law.

Procedure to apply for mercy petition:

A convict under the sentence of death is allowed to file a mercy petition within a period of seven days after the date on which the Superintendent of Jail informs him about the dismissal of the appeal or special leave to appeal by the Supreme Court.
The petitions are to be presented to the President of India. The President office seeks the cabinet advice.
The appeal is examined by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry before giving recommendations to the President, takes the view of State concerned.
There is no written procedure to deal with mercy petition.

Judicial review:

President’s pardon/rejection/delay is also subjected to judicial review.
However, if a court finds that the process of the decision taken by the President under Article 72 was not arbitrary or unreasonable; the decision then cannot be interfered with.
A curative petition is the last judicial corrective measure which can be pleaded in any judgment or decision passed by the Supreme Court which is normally decided by Judges in-chamber.

Who else can give pardon?

In Dhananjoy Chatterjee alias Dhana v State of West Bengal, 1994 case the Supreme Court has said that “The power under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution can be exercised by the Central and State Governments, not by the President or Governor on their own”.
The advice of the appropriate Government binds the Head of the state.

6. NISAR satellite to map Himalayas’ seismic zones

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Concept :

NISAR satellite is going to map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity and aims to build an advance warning system of land subsidence and earthquakes.

Need of the initiative:

A large section of the Himalayan region falls in Zone V, implying the highest risk of strong earthquakes.
The NISAR satellite will use two frequency bands: the L-band and S-band to image the Himalayan region.
These two frequency bands will together provide high-resolution, all-weather data from the satellite that is expected to follow a sun-synchronous orbit.
Frequency to map:
The seismically active Himalayan region that will, every 12 days, create a “deformation map”.
The map is going Map the Strain which refers to the deformation that occurs in rocks when it is under pressure from other rocks, usually due to movements of continental plates that are sliding, colliding, or subducting against each other.
Note : The Indian Plate collided into the Eurasian plate forming the Himalayas and continues to incrementally push it upwards.
Scientists from the Geological Survey of India in 2021 published a “strain map” of the Himalayas based on data from 1,252 GPS stations along the Himalayas.
It identified regions that had the greatest odds of generating earthquakes of magnitude above 8 and their extent.

Significance:

It will also serve as a valuable tool to give warning of land subsidence as scientists can use the data collected and under all-weather conditions to study deformation patterns.
The geoscience community can use this to determine how strain is building up in various parts of the Himalayas.

About NISAR:

NISAR stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar.
NISAR satellite was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the U.S.
NISAR is expected to be launched in January 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit.
It is an Earth observation satellite.
The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem.
And the ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft.
Another important component of the satellite is its large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector
It is made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure.

7. Germany ends nuclear era by shutting down last three power plants

Subject : International Relations

Section: Msc

Concept :

Reaching its final step in quitting nuclear power, Germany on Saturday pulled the plug on its last three nuclear power stations, ending the country’s nuclear era that began almost six decades ago.
Berlin has an ambitious goal of turning to fully renewable electricity by 2035 and by shutting down the last three nuclear plants on Saturday, it reached a little bit closer to achieving its aim.

Nuclear Plants

The nuclear power stations of Isar II, Emsland and Neckarwestheim II have been completely shut down in a bid to end the country’s reliance on energy that is perceived as dangerous and unsustainable.

8. Repatriation of ancient remains has to be a Naga process

Subject :History

Section: Art and Culture

Concept :

Speaking of repatriating ancestral human remains, taken away as trophies of colonialism, it took the Maoris 12 years.
In the case of other aboriginal peoples, it has taken decades.
For the Naga people, the journey is only beginning, in the shape of a project to repatriate Naga ancestral human remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University.

RRaD (Recover, Restore and Decolonise)

RRaD (Recover, Restore and Decolonise) was formed in 2021 to facilitate and engage with issues around the repatriation of Naga ancestral human remains to the Naga homeland.
In 2020, the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) in Oxford, UK, reached out to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) to help facilitate community dialogue regarding the “future care and return” of Naga ancestral human remains.
As part of this process, the FNR formed Recover Restore and Decolonise (RRaD) to study and network with indigenous elders, conduct participatory action research, generate public awareness, and develop a strong viable case to make an official claim to the University of Oxford for returning the Naga human remains.